The second reason why China does not pose a real threat relates to material power, White said. In the Cold War, "wealth and power were very unevenly distributed around the world, and America and the Soviet Union were overwhelmingly preponderant," whereas today, power is much more evenly distributed globally, he added.

White cautioned that hyping up the China threat theory to counter China makes it harder to manage the contest by seeking a new modus vivendi, and easier to mismanage it by sliding into war.